In the middle and late 19th century, several renowned Mesoamerican scholars, starting with Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, and including Edward Herbert Thompson and Augustus Le Plongeon proposed that Atlantis was somehow related to Mayan and Aztec culture.

Jaguar warrior in the Aztec culture

The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tollan ( Nahuatl for Tula ) as the epitome of civilization, indeed in the Nahuatl language the word " Toltec " came to take on the meaning " artisan ".

" Matthew Restall argues that Moctezuma politely offering his throne to Cortés ( if indeed he did ever give the speech as reported ) may well have been meant as the exactly opposite of what it was taken to mean: politeness in Aztec culture was a way to assert dominance and show superiority.

A thriving culture developed, and the Aztec civilization came to dominate other tribes all around Mexico.

* Aztec culture starts in Mesoamerica ( approximate date ).

The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tōllān ( Nahuatl for Tula ) as the epitome of civilization, indeed in the Nahuatl language the word " Tōltēcatl " ( singular ) or " Tōltēcatl " ( plural ) came to take on the meaning " artisan ".

Otherwise, their culture was similar to that of their Aztec and Maya neighbors.

To the Aztec, the Toltec were the originators of all culture ; " Toltecayotl " was a synonym for culture.

At its pinnacle Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions, as well as reaching remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments.

Aztec culture is the culture of the people referred to as Aztecs, but since all ethnic groups of central Mexico in the postclassic period shared most basic cultural traits, many of the basic traits of Aztec culture cannot be said to be exclusive for the Aztecs.

Category: Aztec history

The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of the Toltec empire giving lists of rulers and their exploits.

Among modern scholars it is a matter of debate whether the Aztec narratives of Toltec history should be given credence as descriptions of actual historical events.

The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of the Toltec empire giving lists of rulers and their exploits.

Among modern scholars it is a matter of debate whether the Aztec narratives of Toltec history should be given credence as descriptions of actual historical events.

Scholars such as Michel Graulich ( 2002 ) and Susan D. Gillespie ( 1989 ) maintain that the difficulties in salvaging actual historic data from the Aztec accounts of Toltec history are too great to overcome.

Separating the term " Toltec " from those of the Aztec accounts, it attempts to find archaeological clues to the ethnicity, history and social organization of the inhabitants of Tula.

In other contexts, Aztec may refer to all the various city states and their peoples, who shared large parts of their ethnic history and cultural traits with the Mexica, Acolhua and Tepanecs, and who often also used the Nahuatl language as a lingua franca.

He thereupon rewrote the history of the Aztec people, thus creating a common awareness of history for the Aztecs.

* Aztec emperor Itzcoatl ( ruled 1427 / 8-1440 ) ordered the burning of all historical Aztec codices in an effort to develop a state-sanctioned Aztec history and mythology.

The Historia also described Inca and Aztec customs and history, as well as other information such as winds and tides, lakes, rivers, plants, animals, and mineral resources in the New World.

Friar Diego Durán ( c. 1537 – 1588 ), who chronicled the history of the Aztecs, wrote of Aztec emperor Moctezuma I's attempt to recover the history of the Mexica by congregating warriors and wise men on an expedition to locate Aztlán.

Category: Aztec history

There is a history of ritual tongue piercing in both Aztec and Maya cultures, with illustrations of priests piercing their tongue and then either drawing blood from it or passing through rough cords designed to inflict pain.

Among other purposes, this allowed the Aztec state to develop a state-sanctioned history and mythos that venerated Huitzilopochtli.

It is also important that the Great Sun Stone, also known as the Aztec Calendar, was carved under his leadership.

The Americas collection mainly consists of 19th and 20th century items although the Inca, Aztec, Maya and other early cultures are well represented ; collecting of modern artefacts is ongoing.

According to the Aztec legend, Aztlán is a region ; Chicano nationalists have equated it with the Southwestern United States.

As a result, Chicano identification is aligned with the idea of Aztlán, which extends to the Aztec period of Mexico, celebrating a time preceding land division.

Fire is represented in the Aztec religion by a flint ; to the Native Americans, a mouse ; to the Hindu and Islamic faiths, a lightning bolt ; to the Scythians, an axe, to the Greeks, an apple-bough ; and in Christian iconography, a lion.

Air is represented in the Aztec religion by a snake to the Scythians, a yoke to the Hindus and for Greeks as a sword and in Christian iconography as mankind.

Earth is represented in the Aztec religion by a house ; to the Hindus, a lotus ; to the Scythians, a plough ; to the Greeks, a wheel ; and in Christian iconography by a bull.

* 1525 – The Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed by Hernán Cortés's forces.

It is argued, however, that without her help, Cortes would not have been successful in conquering the Aztecs as quickly, giving the Aztec people enough time to adapt to new technology and methods of warfare.

In stark contrast, she is portrayed as a scheming, duplicitous traitor in Gary Jennings ' novel Aztec.

In the codex's description of the first meeting between Moctezuma and Cortés, the Aztec ruler is described as giving a prepared speech in classical oratorial Nahuatl, a speech which as described verbatim in the codex ( written by Sahagún's Tlatelolcan informants who were probably not eyewitnesses of the meeting ) included such prostrate declarations of divine or near-divine admiration as, " You have graciously come on earth, you have graciously approached your water, your high place of Mexico, you have come down to your mat, your throne, which I have briefly kept for you, I who used to keep it for you ," and, " You have graciously arrived, you have known pain, you have known weariness, now come on earth, take your rest, enter into your palace, rest your limbs ; may our lords come on earth.

The concept of the " Worlds " is linked to the ancient Aztec belief that the world is renewed every five thousand years — a period called a " Sun " ( currently we live in the fifth Sun ).

In the Aztec calendar, Tonatiuh is the lord of the thirteen days from 1 Death to 13 Flint.

The first known states were created in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, the Americas ( e. g. Aztec civilization, Inca civilization ) and others, but it is only in relatively modern times that states have almost completely displaced alternative " stateless " forms of political organization of societies all over the planet.

* Aztec, a novel by Gary Jennings, is told through the eyes of an Aztec in the times of the European conquest of Mexico.

* The Tule tree of Aztec mythology is also associated with a real tree.

In Aztec iconography he is usually depicted with goggle eyes and fangs.

In Aztec mythic cosmography, Tlaloc ruled the fourth layer of the ' Upper World ", or heavens, which is called Tlalocan (" place of Tlaloc ") in several Aztec codices, such as the Vaticanus A and Florentine codices.

In related stories, the creation idea is caused by a single entity emanating or producing something by him-or herself, as in the Tibetan Buddhism concept of Adi-Buddha, the ancient Greek story of Gaia ( Mother Earth ), the Aztec goddess Coatlicue myth, the ancient Egyptian god Atum story, or the Genesis creation narrative.

A large fraction of the languages of North America happen to have a four-vowel system without: ; Aztec is an example.

* Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, dies and is succeeded by his brother Tízoc.